X-Rite has announced the newly updated Pantone Certified Printer Program for commercial printers and packaging converters, which addresses new industry standards.

The program reviews and analyzes every aspect of color operations— from preflight, file preparation and proofing, to ink formulation and mixing, and process control in the pressroom. This creates total quality management based on industry best practices and procedures that drive consistent and repeatable color.

“As a trade printer, you must be lean to be competitive,” says Michael Clark president of Cedar Graphics, an EarthColor company and a Pantone Certified Printer. “The more I learned about the Pantone Certified Printer program and how it could help streamline our processes and make them more consistent, the more interested I became. … Everyone is now speaking the same language, and we are much more efficient as a result.”

The process begins with a Pantone Certified Printer audit conducted by an X-Rite specialist. The audit process isolates issues that compromise color accuracy and is the basis for the implementation of standards-based procedures. The goal is to have all operators on all shifts consistently produce the best color the same way.

“The Pantone Certified Printer Program closes the gap that exists between the many other certification programs available today which cover only part of the workflow, or simply a press or a proofer,” explains Mark Gundlach, training development manager at X-Rite. “This program is unique in that it ties all areas of production together, from prepress and ink formulation to the press room with a focus on both process color and spot color reproduction. This applies to digital, flexo, litho and even grand format print production. Good printers can produce great color at a point in time but it may not be consistent over time. This program, which includes a quarterly color check based on a standard set of files, results in more consistent quality with less rework using existing investments and people.”

“If you know you are going to be checked by an expert on a quarterly basis,” Cedar Graphics’ Clark adds: “It’s just another incentive to keep things up to date as opposed to doing it once and forgetting about it. We look forward to our quarterly reviews and what we might learn each time that will help us communicate even better.”

Proofing and printing to standards helps print and converting operations set and meet customer expectations. Pantone Certified Printers follow standard operating procedures throughout the production operation when specifying CMYK colors based on their print standards. Pantone colors are specified and formulated using spectral data from the PantoneLIVE digital libraries.

“Industry standard operating procedures reduce variability across shifts and over time, as well as provide faster, more consistent staff training,” Gundlach says. “Surprises cost money, and consistency reduces waste.”